> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://v2.dataos.info/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://v2.dataos.info/operate/data-admin/data-admin.md).

# Data Admin overview

The role that owns and governs the Lakehouse.

A **Data Admin** owns the Lakehouse: the managed Apache Iceberg storage where Tenant analytics data lives. You provision and maintain it, structure its namespaces and tables, and govern who can read and write its data. The underlying role is the Tenant's `Data Admin` role.

## Data Admin vs Tenant Admin

Keep the boundary clear. A [Tenant Admin](/operate/tenant-admin/tenant-admin.md) runs the *Tenant*: its Compute, data-source connections, users, and grants. A Data Admin runs the *Lakehouse*: its namespaces, schemas, tables, views, and the access to that data. The two overlap at provisioning (creating the Lakehouse resource may be done by the Operator, the Tenant Admin, or you), but its ongoing structure and data governance are yours. If the question is "how is the Lakehouse data organized and who can query it," it is a Data Admin concern.

The Data Admin role owns the Lakehouse, and can also manage access on any resource in the Tenant, not only ones it created, the same Tenant-wide `Can Manage Access` reach a [Tenant Admin](/operate/tenant-admin/tenant-admin.md) has. That authority lets it self-grant `Can Use` and `Can Edit` on any Tenant resource, including Compute and Depots it did not create; those self-grants are audited like any other. See [Roles & Permissions](/operate/access-control/roles-and-permissions.md).

{% hint style="info" %}
This section covers governing the data inside the Lakehouse: namespaces, schemas, tables, and access to them. Who can edit the Lakehouse resource itself, or grant access to it, is a separate, resource-level concern that you need too. See [Lakehouse: Access control](/operate/access-control/roles-and-permissions/resource-level-permissions/lakehouse-access-control.md) in the Access control section.
{% endhint %}

## What you cannot do

* **Manage Tenant settings, invite users, or assign roles:** That is the [Tenant Admin](/operate/tenant-admin/tenant-admin.md)'s job, not yours.
* **Create domains, or release quarantined Resources:** Both are reserved for the Tenant Admin.
* **Use Compute, Depots, or Secrets by default:** You can self-grant `Can Use`/`Can Edit` via your `Can Manage Access` authority (above), but you don't hold them automatically. Every grant, including to yourself, is audited.

## What you run and maintain

* [Manage the Lakehouse](/operate/data-admin/manage-lakehouse.md): provision it, then create and maintain namespaces, schemas, tables, and views.
* [Access control on Lakehouse data](/operate/data-admin/access-control.md): govern who can read and write, including masking and row-level controls.
* [Monitoring](/operate/data-admin/monitoring.md): watch Lakehouse health and usage.

Start with [Manage the Lakehouse](/operate/data-admin/manage-lakehouse.md).


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